This is a good match even if most think this will be another Golovkin beatdown. Jacobs has solid skills, power, and credentials and will be much larger in the ring come fight night, as in bigger than the lightheavy 174 lb limit. Golovkin in comparison is old school size, maybe 168 lbs come fight night as what now passes as a small middleweight these days, yet here he is dwarfing Marvin Hagler though nothing dwarfs the massive knuckle set of Marv!

Marv and Gennady

Golovkin recently issued yet another fruitless 154 lb challenge to TUE, 49-0, who many expect to comeback for at least one more fight in the ring his protestations not withstanding. Interesting in that Golovkin refused to fight Saul Alvarez at the 155 Canelo catchweight he has created these past few years, an indication that Golovkin respects the power and danger of Canelo more than TUE. He righteously demands the full 160 limit for that bout that looks to be set for September if both get by their significant current tests.

First things first though. Canelo has the much bigger obstacle, that of taking on Julio Cesar Chavez Jr at a 164.5 lb catchweight. Many rightly perhaps sneer and deride Junior, but in spite of his lack of devotion to his training and career, he’s still a giant in good shape when compared to the more compact Canelo. Junior at the 160 limit utterly wrecked the health and career of Sergio Martinez, and blew by Andy Lee as if he was but a mosquito he splattered on his arm. Martinez soon retired with permanent immobility handicaps, but Lee won the WBO title shortly after the Junior disaster to bolster his relevance in the division, so if Junior wins this fight he’s definitely in the mix for a Golovkin fight at the 168 limit.

Nice announcement of the Golovkin/Jacobs, but will the fight turn out as good as the prefight cannon fire?

Nice announcement of the fight!

Oh no, the curse of Ring magazine strikes again with all 22 “experts” picking Golovkin! Man, that’s some heavy duty curse on the poor boy. Can he overcome all that bad mojo?

Will that curse also extend to Ring #1 P4Per, Roman Gonzalez, who takes on a formidable challenge after a very poor showing against then undefeated 115 lb champ, Carlos Barbie Doll Cuadras, to now go up against former 115 lb champ, Wisaksil Wangek, 41-4-1, 38 KO record. Wangek is from Thailand, who like Japanese fighters are often matched hard early in their careers instead of the pampered western world model. He also has another name like many Thais, that of Srisaket Sor Rungvisai, and lost his first two fights by KO, and that’s it for vulnerabilities. I wish both fighters well as the stakes couldn’t be bigger for both, but I favor Wangek in what should be a great fight if the ref and judges don’t screw up their end as they are too often capable in New York.

Bottom line: Most all as well as myself are also picking Golovkin in a mid fight knockout, but I do think Jacobs will win new fans by acquitting himself well and won’t go out easy. Losing to a future HOF great in a good fight used to be honorable, but nonetheless, Jacobs always has that outside chance, and just maybe….

Sadly, the most ironic, deadly, and comical boxer in the modern game, Ali Raymi, age 41, has passed away in the civil war ravaged Yemen.

The Greatest Ever, like his rival, The Best Ever, Floyd Mayweather Jr, who fights exclusively at MGM Floyd while rotating his stock of selected officials, Raymi fought exclusively in Yemen against Yemeni fighters using Yemeni officials. Fruitlessly he called out international champs Roman Gonzalez and Guillermo Rigondeaux to come and fight him. Perhaps most notably was the way he utterly gutted the anti-social media misanthropes on their own forums with such original pearls of belittlement and disdain that they too fell hard to the dazzling display of brillance Raymi displayed in and out of the ring.

Ali compiled a 25-0, 25 KO record during the 4 years that he fought, finally winning the Universal Boxing Organization light flyweight title in a legendary 4 fight series against Prince Maz. His was not a pretty style, it was simple savagery refined with relentless blunt force conditioning. He gave no quarter and in the end, armed terrorists gave him no quarter. R.I.P.